Degrees of comparison (adverbs and adjectives)

Прилагательные имеют три степени сравнения: положительную (positive) (tall, beautiful), сравнительную (comparative) (taller, more beautiful) и превосходную (superlative) (the tallest, the most beautiful).

Правила написания:

1. если прилагательное заканчивается на согласную, перед, которой стоит ударная гласная эта согласная, удваивается: thin – thinner – the thinnest.

2. если прилагательное заканчивается на -y, перед которой стоит согласная, -y меняется на –i: happy – happier – the happiest.

Положительная (positive)	Сравнительная (comparative)	Превосходная (superlative)	Примечания
(a) big strong busy clever narrow simple polite severe	bigger stronger busier cleverer narrower simpler politer severer	the biggest the strongest the busiest the cleverest the narrowest the simplest the politest the severest	Односложные и двусложные прилагательные оканчивающиеся на –y, -er, -ow, -le и прилагательные с ударением на последний слог.
(b) famous interesting	more famous more interesting	the most famous the most interesting	Большая часть двусложных и многосложных прилагательных
(c) good bad many much little few	better worse more less	the best the worst the most the least	Прилагательные составляющие исключения из правил

1. Прилагательные far и old имеют две формы сравнительной и превосходной степени:

Far – farther – the farthest (расстояние)

further – the furthest (время и расстояние)

Old – older – the oldest (выражает возраст, употребляется в конструкции с than)

elder – the eldest (о членах одной семьи)

2. Сравнительные конструкции:

a) as…as, not so … as, as … as possible (положительная степень прилагательного)

Ann’s brother is as tall as his father.

Ann’s brother is not so tall as his father.

Your letter must be as short as possible.

b) конструкция с than, the … the better (сравнительная степень прилагательного)

Ann’s brother is taller than she.

• Your letter is very short.

• The shorter the better.

III. Why Do People Travel?

Travel is not about getting from point A to point B. At best that's tourism – at worst transportation – across a more or less sterile landscape. Real travel is about soaking up the local flavor, getting a sense of other people's lives, and their history.

Never overlook the local people. They are always proud of their town, their county, their country, and their heritage. And every little town has a little something somewhere that's interesting, that you can only find through the local people. If you recognize them by being friendly and saying, "Hello, I'm not from around here," you'll be surprised what you get back in return. They'll often bend over backward to help, simply because you're not a typical Joe Blow tourist blowing through town. Shaun, Bandera, Texas

One of the many paths to enlightenment is the discovery of ourselves, and this can be achieved whenever one truly knows others who are different. Edward T. Hall, USA, from The Dance of Life

Travelling is almost like talking with men of other centuries. Rene Descartes, France

The act of travelling can be described by a number of synonyms. They all describe the act of going from one place to another (that is why they are synonyms), but differ by the length of time taken by that act, by its purpose, destination or by the methods of travelling.

Ex1. Give definitions to the following words using English-English dictionary:

travel (n.), journey (n.), voyage (n.), trip (n.), tour (n.), cruise (n.), hitch-hiking (n.).

Fill in appropriate words (consult the list of synonyms above):

1. I’d be delighted to go on a sea …, but my wife has never been a good sailor, so we can’t join you. 2. Last week we made a wonderful … to the mountains. It took us four hours by coach. 3. The Italian … was really exciting. We visited a number of wonderful towns and then returned to Rome. The … back to Moscow by railway took us about three days. 4. It is delightful to come ashore after a long … and to feel solid ground under one’s foot. 5. Many times on his long … in the depths of Africa, in the jungle of the Amazon he faced danger, starvation and death. 6. At the beginning of the last century going from Petersburg to Moscow was described as “…”. Now it is but a night’s … by a night train, a six hours’ … by daytrain or an air … of an hour and a half. 7. I’m just reading a very amusing book about a pleasure party making a Caribbean … in somebody’s yacht. 8. Young people are fond of … as a way of visiting new places and seeing things: it is cheap and gives one a feeling of freedom and infinite horizons. 9. I’m told you’re going on a … to the Far East. 10. They’re planning a … of some Baltic resorts. They’ve a new car, you know. 11. You’re looking pale. A … to the seaside will do you good.